The Field Journal
Rivers & Lakes · Tributary Creek

Gopher Creek

A creek in the Lower Arrow Lake watershed, a tributary of Trail Creek, holding Rainbow and Brook Trout in provincial fish-inventory records.

Gopher Creek is a tributary creek flowing into Trail Creek. Recorded fish: rainbow, brook trout.

The water

It flows into Trail Creek within the Lower Arrow Lake watershed (Lower Arrow Lake → Columbia River). It runs stream order 3 (mid-range in the network; the scale runs from 1 for a headwater trickle to 6+ for a river) and roughly 2 km. Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, recorded here in provincial fish-inventory data (2 records).

The fishing

As a small stream, a tributary of Trail Creek, Gopher Creek fishes the way creeks of its size do: short drifts with a buoyant attractor dry over a light dropper, working the pocket water and the heads of pools. Match the fly box to the season and confirm against a current local report.

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Tributary Creek
Lower Arrow Lake watershed
straighten
Stream order 3
~2 km
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Rainbow and Brook Trout
2 records
footprint
Wade / Technical

Conditions

  • Navigability: wade / technical: steep gradient, pocket water (median channel width ~4.4 m, narrow; median gradient ~14.95%, very steep; peak mean-annual discharge ~0.373 m³/s, very low flow).

Access & the rules

Access for Gopher Creek, meaning the roads in, put-ins and any walk-in or seasonal limits, is worth confirming locally before you commit a day. The drainage map shows how the water sits in its valley.

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Before you fish

Confirm the current BC freshwater fishing regulations (Region 4 – Kootenay) before you go This water is part of the Trail Creek system.. Official synopsis: gov.bc.ca fishing regulations.